Chapter Text
Shinichi Kudo stared at his tiny body in the mirror of the first aid room he’d been taken to after being discovered on the ground unconscious at Tropical Land. He had to go, he had to get help, he had to get home, he had to get out of there. The rain had started coming down as he ran. His now tiny lungs burned and his oversized pants dragged. Finally he was home, which brought new problems. He couldn’t get in... An explosion next door. Agasa!
One explanation and a change of clothes into a tiny suit later, Shinichi began to weigh his options. “No one can know about this.. if they find out I’m alive...”
“They could come after Ran.” Agasa nodded solemnly. “You’re going to have to find a new identity.”
“You can say I’m your nephew or something.” Shinichi offered.
“And live right next door to your house?” Agasa shook his head. “That’s much too dangerous Shinichi! People here saw you everyday as a kid, they’ll ask too many questions.” He thought harder, “What if you lived with Ran! Her father is a detective, you could use his resources to find out what happened.”
“That could work!” Shinichi agreed. “But what are we going to do about my current identity...”
“You’re going to have to let everyone think you’re dead.” Agasa replied solemnly. “If those men even start to think you’re alive, they’ll start looking. As of tonight, Shinichi, you’re dead.” He hated to do this to his young friend. The seventeen year old had so much life ahead of him. They’d sort out what could be done after those men were taken down. But for now this was the way it had to be.
“Oh.” Shinichi kept his head low. “Alright.” He looked up with cold determination.
“You can stay with me for now though, we’ll work on your new identity, as well as how we’ll get Ran and Kogoro to buy into it.”
“Yeah.” Shinichi looked at a photo of him and Ran as kids. His gaze drifted to a photo of his parents. This was going to be hard, but he would do it for all of them.
~~~~~~~~~~
Elsewhere, across Tokyo, another incident was occurring. A para-glider whizzed and retracted into a cape as a gentleman touched down on a rooftop. “It’s showtime” A cheeky smile flashed. A boy unaware of how wrong his night was about to go. The seventeen year old Kaito Kuroba dodged and snuck through the 87th floor of the skyscraper, looking for the Midnight Ruby, his latest target. He gracefully landed on top of the jewel case and began to skillfully cut it open.
*SHING*
An Arrow shot through his hat, so smoothly and skillfully he hadn’t noticed it coming until it was upon him, The hat flew backwards, pinned to a wall. He was so stunned he turned to see where it had come from. Another one whizzed by, and knocked his monocle off as a spotlight blinded him.
“Ha! We’ve got you NOW-K.....Kaito.....” All of Nakamori’s passion and drive for catching the Phantom Thief Kid came to a screeching halt as he glimpsed the face of the teen who was like a son to him. Suddenly everything made so much sense.
Time seemed to freeze and Kaito felt a panic within him. He set a smoke bomb off.
*SHING*
an arrow pierced his leg before he could run. He let out a cry of anguish in the smoky blur.
“I DIDN’T ORDER YOU TO FIRE AGAIN” Nakamori shouted at whoever had fired.
“You wanted to catch him, I was st-” The assailant tried to argue.
“Kaito where are you?!” Nakamori called, trying to clear the smoke. “Please I just want to help you!”
If Kaito had had a second longer, he could have tried to fool the man. He’d done it before when Nakamori had gotten suspicious. But his leg was in pain and he had to get out of there. He slammed himself into the window as hard as he could and let his para-glider catch his fall, sailing desperately off anywhere else. The Japanese police force now knew the identity of the Phantom Thief Kid. Aoko’s dad now knew his secret. He couldn’t go home. He didn’t think he could gaslight his way out of this one.
“What am I going to do Jii-chan.” Kaito groaned miserably over the phone, trying his best to keep calm.
“You’ll have to find somewhere to hide.” Jii responded gravely. “You might have to be prepared to hide forever. You have the power to be anyone, but that’s risky, changing your appearance all the time.”
“Maybe there’s somewhere I can hide where I don’t have to...” Kaito scrolled through his phone, staring down at a police report for a ‘Shinichi Kudo’, reported missing just an hour ago. It wouldn’t be very good for him if the detective was found right away...but maybe he could check it out. If the guy had gotten himself into some stupid detective trouble, there was a brand new shiny opening for a Shinichi Kudo with his name on it. At least for a little bit.